Center Director, W. Ian Lipkin, MD W. Ian Lipkin, MD, is internationally recognized for his contributions to global public health through the innovative methods he developed for infectious diseases diagnosis, surveillance, and discovery. Most notably, he had the first use of subtractive cloning in microbial discovery and the first use of next generation sequencing for investigating outbreaks. Dr. Lipkin also developed gene capture technologies, including VirCapSeq-VERT and BacCapSeq as well as multiplexed serological assays to detect vector-borne diseases. These advances have been critical in replacing culture-dependent methods of global health management by creating new criteria for disease causation and de-linking spurious associations between putative agents and diseases. Such examples include refuting the MMR vaccine having a role in autism and XMRV in ME/CFS. Dr. Lipkin has been at the forefront of outbreak response to many of the world's recent outbreaks, including West Nile Virus in NYC (1999), SARS in China (2003), MERS in Saudi Arabia (2012-2016), Zika in the United States (2016), and encephalitis in India (2017). He promotes public health awareness via print and broadcast media and also served as the scientific advisor for the Steven Soderberg film Contagion. Some of his most prestigious honors include Pew Scholar (Biomedical Sciences), Walter Reed Distinguished Lecturer, the Drexel Prize in Translational Medicine, the Mendel Medal (Villanova University), and the International Science and Technology Cooperation Award of the People's Republic of China. He is the Director of the Center for Solutions for ME/CFS, the Director for the Center for Research in Diagnostics and Discovery, and the Director for the Center of Infection and Immunity with the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University.

Center Director, Maureen Hanson, PhD Maureen R. Hanson, PhD, is the Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor in the Department of Molecular Biology & Genetics at Cornell University. She directs Cornell's Center for Enervating NeuroImmune Disease and the NIH ME/CFS CRC's project concerning extracellular vesicles as possible mediators or sources of biomarkers for the disease, particularly after an exercise challenge. Students in Cornell's graduate programs in Genetics and Development in Biochemistry, Molecular and Cell Biology are performing thesis research on ME/CFS under her supervision. Dr. Hanson's research on the pathophysiology of ME/CFS has encompassed mitochondrial genetics, the gut microbiota, cellular metabolism, gene expression, and immune cell function.

Center Director, Derya Unutmaz, MD Derya Unutmaz, MD, is a Professor and Principal Investigator at The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine. He is also the Center Director of JAX's ME/CFS CRC. His research team investigates the biology of the human immune system, and the relevance of human T cell subsets to normal immune response, diseases, and aging. His expertise in immunology, microbiology, and pathology has led to advances in the understanding of how T cells contribute to immune suppression during infection and other chronic diseases.

Center Director, Linda Morris Brown, MPH, DrPH Linda Morris Brown, MPH, DrPH, is a senior research epidemiologist at RTI International. In this capacity, Dr. Brown directs data coordinating centers for large multi-site clinical trials and epidemiologic studies; conducts epidemiologic research and analyzes epidemiologic data for large-scale, multi-disciplinary studies in the United States and worldwide; and performs quality assurance data audits of health data. Dr. Brown is the Center Director for RTI's Data Management and Coordinating Center for the ME/CFS Collaborative Research Network. Before joining RTI, Dr. Brown served for 30 years as a Commissioned Officer in the U.S. Public Health Service at the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health and was Assistant Chief in the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics for 10 years.

Center Clinical Director, Peter Rowe, MD Peter Rowe, MD, is a Professor of Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He also serves as the director of the chronic fatigue clinic at Johns Hopkins Children's Center. His research focuses on ME/CFS, and he is particularly interested in the association between circulatory abnormalities and ME/CFS symptoms and in the ability of biomechanical movement restrictions to provoke immediate and late symptom aggravation. He received a 2014 research award from the International Association for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis for his clinical and scientific work on ME/CFS and related disorders. As Center Clinical Director for RTI's DMCC, Dr. Rowe provides an experienced medical perspective and supports the ME/CFS Research Network's community outreach and data harmonization activities.